San Diego , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The `` Dream 9 , '' five women and four men , say that they are `` undocumented and unafraid . ''

Do n't believe it . I bet they were afraid . Who would n't have been ?

The nine -- Claudia Amaro , Adriana Gil Diaz , Luis Leon Lopez , Maria Peniche-Vargas , Ceferino Santiago , LuLu Martinez Valdez , Mario Felix-Garcia , Marco Saavedra and Lizbeth Mateo-Jimenez -- spent more than two weeks in a federal immigration detention facility in Eloy , AZ. . Martinez Valdez and Peniche-Vargas -- had been put in solitary confinement for what was supposed to be 15 days .

All because they would n't take `` go '' for an answer . Some of these `` Dreamers '' had been deported to Mexico by the Obama administration , though President Obama has repeatedly said that his administration is not looking to deport Dreamers -- the name taken by young immigrants who are in the U.S. without papers . Three of them who were on this side of the border -- Saavedra , Martinez Valdez and Mateo-Jimenez -- `` self deported '' to Mexico to join the other six .

Then , on July 22 , all nine linked arms and marched across the border into the United States . The idea was to draw attention to the administration 's repressive immigration policies . The nine asked for humanitarian parole . When that was denied , they claimed asylum .

Opinion : Let 's deport Rep. Steve King

Now , they have been set free . Earlier in the week , federal officials found that all nine have `` credible fear '' of persecution or torture in their birth countries and thus can not be removed without a hearing before an immigration judge . Pending those hearings , the nine have now been released into the waiting arms of family members within the United States . It 's a major victory for the Dreamer movement .

For many , this is a heartwarming story about the power of the individual who is brave enough to make a stand . For others , it is major inconvenience . It 's a story that the White House wishes would go away . Ditto for immigration reformers who are split between those who back the Dream 9 and those who want to sacrifice them for political expediency .

David Leopold , former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association , callously dismissed the Dream 9 action as a `` publicity stunt '' and a distraction . He also said it was unlikely that the three Dreamers who voluntarily left the United States would qualify for asylum .

So far , Leopold has been spectacularly wrong . All nine will get asylum hearings .

And the Dreamers got more warmth from Congress . Thirty-five lawmakers signed a letter asking Obama to use his discretion to release the young people from custody . The letter -- signed by Reps. Mike Honda , D-California , Raul Grijalva , D-Arizona , and Ruben Hinojosa , D-Texas , among others -- describes the activists as `` victims of our broken immigration policy '' who `` deserve to come home to the United States . ''

Immigration reformers were bound to lose confidence in this administration . A president ca n't deport nearly 2 million people in under five years , split up hundreds of thousands of families , detain thousands of undocumented children without giving them access to legal counsel , and expand Arizona-style immigration enforcement nationwide through the maniacal program known as `` Secure Communities '' without raising a stink .

For many , what happened to the Dream 9 was the last straw .

Searching for the American Dream in Mexico

Martinez-Valdez and Peniche-Vargas were in solitary confinement because , according to authorities , they started a ruckus in the dining hall .

Of course they did . Did n't Obama say that the Dreamers were Americans except for legal status ? This is how Americans behave . We 're ornery , courageous and defiant . We yell `` freedom '' at the top of our lungs . These kids are Americans , all right . The next thing you know , a bunch of Dreamers will dump tea into Boston Harbor .

Besides , Obama made quite a show -- before the election -- of announcing that his administration was sparing Dreamers deportation by offering deferred action and temporary work permits . Nearly 300,000 Dreamers have been awarded the special accommodation so far .

There 's not room for nine more ? Some might not be eligible for deferred action , some might be . Let 's find out .

Maybe there would be more compassion on the Potomac if these young people had n't embarrassed Obama , put the lie to the fairy tale that this administration has been compassionate toward immigrants , divided self-serving organizations such as the lawyers group AILA , and pitted one group of immigration reformers against another -- those who want to protect the Dreamers versus those who want to protect the president .

I 've had my differences with the Dreamer movement .

I think that many of these young people have a sense of entitlement , like most young people in the United States . I did n't think it was a good idea for Dreamer activists to disrupt congressional hearings on immigration reform , or occupy the offices of reform advocates like Rep. Luis Gutierrez , D-Illinois . And I think much of what drives Dreamer activists within the United States is a look-at-me narcissism fed by social media and a culture where young people are told they can become the next American Idol .

Opinion : House , knowledge economy needs immigrants

But I never questioned their sincerity , or dismissed anything they did as a stunt . I would n't presume to tell people who put their freedom at risk along the U.S.-Mexico border that the difficult decisions they 're making are the wrong ones . And I certainly would n't do it to protect an administration that does n't deserve protecting .

The Dream 9 are back where they belong -- in the United States . But this story is n't over . The fault lines it exposed within the immigration reform movement remain .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette .

@highlight

Ruben Navarrette : Nine Dreamer activists were in federal immigration detention in Arizona

@highlight

They 'd tried to re-enter the U.S. asking for humanitarian parole or asylum and were jailed

@highlight

He says they have been freed , granted immigration hearing , drew support from Congress

@highlight

Navarrette : DREAMers sometimes have look-at-me activism , but this request is valid